-collins



Feb. 12 1924. 1,483,783

U. ,L. COLLINS ELECTRIC CLOCK Filed 001:. 12. 1922 2 sheets-Sheba 1 REMYW 1 INVENTOR. VLYJJES L COLLINS ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 12 1924. 1,483,783

u. COLLINS ELECTRIC CLOCK R. U; rams L. cums ATTORNEYS. I

- venteges pfimydeviees -will;appear as'the' represents a Patented Feb. 12, 1924.

UNITED messa e q e To all whom it may concern: V Beit'known that IQUI'. ssiss L.. COI,LI N'S e California, have inye'nted a new endj isefnl PQifi P OD- t t The Pr een rim 69mp .r a es; "i np r v me 1 1. 9 =.k ;:a li rert qgl e s ence to aelqok ,ectusted by electrical means;

, The particular object} of [theinventiprij to p ide se -win i k l l ,irhe e' y i meant eelock that ,win close Bani 'electrwcircuit whenever; the weight tiieti ggtheeeme reach A p tien Wher i be e f mt ve The closing of the QlIIJlit, Q II:Gl 'gl Z GJS V angels:-

Q-mage wh c le ter Qithfiz armature 1 and through 1 the, act-ion of theferinetiire returns the weight to its initial PQ-Sitipn. p A' rt i-e i cw h l iw ntiph mp p fil sepa t equal zing iw i i s 'f teqpe et- 11 w thith ee g t,m ie ie e e pi m e pa t nd i o mil er h resu t nsi fe 'w 541i plie t drive the meiiheni m eq lt toufg out the operation. Furtheflqbpcts .angled specification proceeds.

'With these. objects in yievrrI have shown the (preferred form of my inven'tion' inthe accompanyi drawings in which "Eignre 1 rent .view ofthe clock, inecha nism, Figure 2,- a; side view ,of. the: salme lo'oking at itfrom gthe righthand ,sid e ,Figi r.e;.3 aside ,view of theseme, looking at it from the, lefthend side Eigure 4' ,ssectiansi detail view taken jialong ,l1ne14 ofnFigurel 3, Eigure, 5 avertieal sectionetdetbiil View talk en .along line 5: 5Qofj Eigure'AQ'Figure 6" a detail View; showing a pawl ,a'nd ratchet engagement, Figure 7 a ,deteil view .of ,the powenshtft and its .snpport and t Figure 8 a vwirir ig rliagramfi While I have shown only the preferred formiof the invention I wish tothave ithu'nderstood I citizen of'the United S, S,'a,iid"1t resident" of e D emun y bf Sa i Degesee 9 m go qq m 1wm t en pu mgs t to Ne is-1, pe v pdi h p ae (1)- 7 by any snitathle neans' as by the screws 8 h s plate a le t lower pins (4)'"by meefispfe transverse plate (9') proyided yerticel slots '(11) adaptedtO SlidBiQn' ereqlnced portioii'of the and to -beheld in p lece .by means 'of nuts ('19) 1 1)" s? 1 1 ie ree r yl nd 'y rush temqp'v th rl'e S d T Y I The worki n'gmeohanism .of my clock is fer essentielly from similar 'devices nowonthemarket. 'A ler gelgeer Wheel (17) is looselyf inounted briitlie shaft and rotated.

fromweeter m a s 9 a 's'p i g s) secured gm itll r. (ie) which litte'r is fixed l fihav .v in'g' 'a' in (21) rising fronr'the side'of the get: eel (,17) 'I he' lz'ttter meshes with a. p ie (2272mm Shaft (2 a r'y i h secondhand (24); motiono f thelatter sha .i re la e b h e ar e shown infEignre 1' feomprising "the-toothed wheel (27) and the pallet (28-) onthe-shaft (Q Y'FSHPPQI Q Jb WF QP.1 1? two plates a d (2);.e1 th Pend upp on h 'tnpp r .Pin. (4) yj e of Spring 'Ajpihionrigidlysecuredltothe gea'r-{wh je (17)}n1shes with a ear wheel (34-)Qonthe shhft (36) to the en of which is secured the minute hand The hour hand (38);is f 2tstened on asleeve (39) loose- 1y mounted 'on'the shaft (36) and-receiving; rotary motion ateredticed rate from the latter she ftthrou h the pinion' (41) meshing with a geeriv eel (42) and. the pinion (43) meshing with the gearwheel (44).

The princ pal feature of the present in Vention consists in the drive means for the shaft (16). Thelatter as shown in Figure 7 .con'sistspreferably, of two parts, one part (46) beingsupported betweenjthe rear plate (1) andfa br'efc 8t (17) and terminating in a lreduced extension (48) which serves as a journal forone end of the art (49), the otherfen d oflwhich-rests in tie front plate (2). Qn'the-pert (46) of the shaft (16) is supported 'ebell crenk lever (51) one arm of ,which carriese weight 52) while the (gage la .rediiced or-' tL-the sr t ngf gag ngi nd pushother end is provided with a lateral projection (53). It will be seen' from Figure 5 that the weight (52) when occupying the position indicated in said figure will have a tendency to cause the shaft (46) to rotate until the weight has fallen to substantially the lowest position it may obtain in following a circular path around the axis of the shaft (46). It will also be seen that the force applied by the weight varies according to its particular position. Travelling along a circular path the weight will gain in momentum as it approaches the horizontal center line. For the best operation of the clock it is desirable however that the force brought to bear by the weight should be as uniform as possible and to obtain this result I provide a spring (55) which cooperates with the weight in turning the shaft. The spring is positioned in such a manner as to pull downward and its tension is most intense when the weight is in its upper most position while its tension slackens as the weight moves downward; "We thus have two forces tending to turn the shaft (46) one increasing in force and the other decreasing and the two forces should be adjusted in such a manner that the resulting force is uniform throughout. The bell crank lever (51) is rigid on the shaft (46) and the rotary motion of the latter shaft is transmitted to the shaft (49) by. means of the pawl (54) ivotally, secured' to the weight as shown at 56) and the ratchet (57) fixed to the shaft (49), the pawl and ratchet being held in engagement by a spring 58). Thelatter issupported on a. pm (59 projecting from the "side of .the weight (52) and is held in yielding contact with the flat ortion of the pawl forcing the latter normal y in contact with the teeth oi the ratchet but allowing the same at the same time to be turned at right angles to its operative position andto come to rest in that. position as shown in dotted lines inEigure 6. The ratchet is prevented from turning in the opposite direction by. means of a dog (61) supported on a small shaft (62).

'hen the weight reaches its lowermost operative position theother arm (64) of the bell crank lever makes ,contact with a vertical rod (.66) bent at the lower. end as shown at (6T Fi ure 1) and secured to, the armature (6S) pivotally supported 'between the lips (69) of a brass platei(7l) secured to the lower end of two electro-magnets (72) which latter are supported by a bracket (7 3) i by means of two screws (74). The armature is secured on its pivot in such a manner that it normally falls away from the electro-magncts into the slanting position shown in Figure l. The upper rear edge (76) striking the bottom of the brass plate (71) and thereby preventing the armature from going beyond this position. .-\s will be shown later the bell crank lever (51) and the vertical rod (66) are includedin the circuit forming the electro-magnet and the latter circuit is closed; when the lower arm of the bell crank lever strikes the rod (66), that is when the weight is in its lowermost working position. \Vhen the electro-magnets become ener ized they attract the armature and cause the same to swing on itspivot 69) whereby the vertical rod (66) is pus led violently against the projection (53) of the lower arm of the bell crank lever throwing the same forward and returning the weight to its initial position. Particu ar attention is called to the engagement between the Vertical rod 66) and the bell crank lever arm (64). T 1e enga ement is such that at first, that is during the initial part of the motion of the armature, an intermediate portion of the rod (66) engages the projection (53) which latter is provided at the end of the lower arm, thus securing'a'favorable leverage for the armature at the beginning. As the armature approaches the electromagnet the magnetic 'force attracting the same becomes stronger and the point of attack of the rod (63) on the lever arm is changed so that during the latter part of the stroke a rojection (67) at the extreme end of the re engages a point its whereby the"final momentum of the'weight is increased, which throws the wei'ht back to its initial position and brea the circuit.

' The wirin for mydevice be readily understood rom'the wiring-d1 u "shown in'Figure 8i A wire-(77) leads -"m'aisixit:

able sourcelof power as. the battfyUS) to the' screw 8) which is througliithe late (1) and the aft (46) electrically= connec with the bellcrank lever" 51)5 When connection. has been estab ed between the lower arm of the bell crank lever and the verticl rod "('66)' :i chi-rent; asses from the lever through'the rod to e'ar'mature' (68 and from there through the windin (79 of'the electro-ma. etc and "-througi' the wire (81) to the p ate (9 which is separated from the remaindrfo the work-:

ing mechanism .by means of-the'- insulating material (82). A wire (83) connecting the in (4) which is in electrical contact with the plate. (9) to the battery (78) completes the. circuit, The electromagnet i's preferably shu ted by a non-inductive resistance (84) for the purpose of eliminating'fthe spark when the contact is broken. The operation .of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing description. Beginning with the osition shown in Figure 5 the wei ht"(52 tends to rotate the shaft (46) an is assisted in this tendency by the spring (55), the two forces cooperating to obtain au'niform motion as described hereinbefore. As the of the levei' near' weight reaches a predetermined position the projection (53) at the lower end of the lever arm (64) strikes the rod (66) and thereby completes the circuit for the electro-magnets. The armature is attracted and the rod (66) first engaging the projection (53) with an intermediate portion of the rod and thereafter engaging an intermediate portion of the lever arm with its extreme end throws the latter forward and the weight back to its initial position allowing the latter to resume its action. In this manner the clock is kept running as long as the battery is sufiiciently strong to actuate the armature and through the same the weight (52). The particular strength of the battery is of little importance the only difference being that a weak battery may not throw the weight upward quite as high as a strong battery and that as a consequence the periods for the operation of the weight become shorter which however need not interfere with the time keeping qualities of the clock.

Particular attention is called to the fact that due to the construction of my device the whole working mechanism may be removed without the necessity of disconnecting any wires, because the electrical connections are broken by merely removing the plate (1) from the supporting pins It should also be mentioned that the manner in which the circuit is broken each time the weight is actuated by the armature of the electromagnet offers a distinct ad vantage in so far as the point where the circuit is broken does not coincide with the point where the circuit is closed and the latter point therefore remains unaffected by any spark that might occur due to the breaking of the circuit. As has been described, the circuit is closed by an intermediate portion of the rod (66) engaging the projection (53) of the bell crank lever, while the circuit is broken only after the end of the rod (66) has engaged an intermediate portion of the bell crank lever and any sparking that might take place would occur at the latter point of engagement. The breaking of the circuit is caused by the momentum of the weight which continues its upward motion on the arc of a circle after the rod (66) has come to a stop.

The particular construction of the pawl (54) facilitates the assembling of the clock since it may be turned into the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 6 so as not to interfere with the insertion of the ratchet wheel (57).

I claim:

1. Means for actuating a clock, com rising a working mechanism, a shaft for riving the same having a lever arm thereon, a weight at the free end of the arm adapted to rotate the shaft and a spring cooperating with the weight disposed so as to decrease in tension as the weight gains in effectiveness due to the circular curve described by the same.

2. Means for actuating a clock, comprising a working mechanism, a shaft for driving the same having a lever arm thereon, a weight at the free end of the arm adapted to rotate the shaft and a spring cooperating with the Weight disposed so as to decrease in tension as the weight gains in effectiveness due to the circular curve de scribed by the same, and electrical means for returning the weight to its initial position after its force is expended adapted to simultaneously place the spring under ten- S1011.

3. In a clock of the character described, two plates disposed in spaced relation to one another having a working mechanism supported between the same, and means for supporting one of the plates comprising two parallel lower pins and one upper pin disposed centrally above the two pins, two vertical slots being associated with the late adapted to slidably enga e the two tower pins and a slanting lateral slot being provided in the plate adapted to engage the upper pin on a combined lateral and downward motion.

4. In a device of the character described, a pawl and ratchet engagement comprising two coaxial shafts, a lever arm mounted on one of the shafts and a ratchet wheel on the other one, a pawl pivotally supported on the lever arm adapted to engage the ratchet teeth having flat surfaces surrounding its pivot, and a spring adapted to hear on one of said flat surfaces so as to hold the pawl in engagement with the ratchet, the spring allowing the pawl to he swung into and come to rest in a position at an angle to its operative position.

ULYSSES L. COLLINS. 

